


Jinyoung's Problem

by Yume_no_Mikoto



Series: Everyone's either working or in college [2]
Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Fluff, I'm also whipped but wbk, I'm ridiculously bad with titles I'm so sorry, M/M, Mentions of a past relationship, Pre-Slash, Some of Stray Kids are here because I love them a lot, Yugyeom is cute but he's also annoying, jinyoung is whipped, kinda angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-28 02:03:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17173748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yume_no_Mikoto/pseuds/Yume_no_Mikoto
Summary: Jinyoung is so thoroughly confused about his feelings and it's all because of Yugyeom.





	1. The Café

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Remember when I said I wanted to write about the other members too? Well, I'm back again with more Jingyeom content! I actually wanted to post this before Christmas but then the holidays just got really busy, whenever I felt like writing I didn't have the time and when I did have the time I was too lazy to write (_ _")  
> But anyway! Late Merry Christmas! Or Happy Holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas :))  
> Here's your gift, from me to you. Enjoy uwu  
> Comments are always appreciated!
> 
> That's it! Happy Holidays and may you enjoy the rest of 2018!

Jinyoung wasn’t a very touchy person but that doesn’t mean he loathes affection. He likes affection just fine, he’d never say this to Jackson’s face but he enjoys the cuddles he gives him most days.

The thing was he didn’t much enjoy giving affection. A pat on the head here, a lean into the shoulder there, and that were all he was willing to give.

So… why is it that he feels like he wants to touch Yugyeom all the time?

Sure, the kid is cute and he likes him well enough but he didn’t seem all that special to Jinyoung. Still, the thought wouldn’t leave his head and it honestly confused him. He wouldn’t even consider Yugyeom his closest friend—that would be Mark… or Jaebeom… or Jackson, depending on his mood—so why is it that he has this strange want to shower him with affection?

He can’t figure it out. No matter how many nights he’s thought about this it won’t register in his head so he does the next best thing, he doesn’t think about it.

It was going pretty well. He didn’t see Yugyeom for a week or so, with him getting more and more busy with school and Jinyoung also taking every shoot that was booked to him, and the whole affection thing didn’t cross his mind during their time apart. They texted here and there, mostly consisting of the younger complaining about college and Jinyoung telling him to _go to sleep Gyeom-ah, it’s 4 AM_.

That short week seemed meaningless though when they met at Def., Jaebeom’s café.

He liked going there to read, work on his novel or bother Jaebeom in his studio upstairs enough to let him hear demos of new songs he’s planning to release. At that time, he was just planning on ordering a coffee and sitting in a quiet area of the café to finish a book he’s been reading. He could read it at home, but he can already hear Jackson’s chiding voice yelling, “Jinyoungie you have to leave your house sometimes! Don’t be a hermit! You’re too hot to be a hermit!”

He sighs, turning a page while he waits for one of the baristas—most likely Hyunjin, that boy likes to talk to him… and stare at him, he was honestly a little weird—to serve him his white mocha latte.

Jinyoung was pretty engrossed in his book when he hears his voice, it wasn’t because he likes his voice or anything, Yugyeom’s voice was just easy to distinguish. It was soft and a little high-pitched but he didn’t sound feminine, it was soothing. His voice is sweet, but not too sweet, like peppermint candy or—wait. He shakes his head.

He is NOT waxing poetic about his dongsaeng’s voice. _That’s weird Jinyoung,_ he thinks as he pinches the bridge of his nose, _stop thinking weird things_.

He looks up from his book and sure enough, he sees Yugyeom at the counter talking to Felix—one of the other baristas who only really does the cashier and waiter duties. He remembers Jaebeom saying he’s not good at making coffee which is strange because he’s working at a coffee shop but his friend must have a reason for not firing him.

Yugyeom looks pretty good. He’s wearing a soft pink sweater ~~(it’s very, very, very, very adorable)~~ and ripped black jeans. Jinyoung also noticed that he changed his hair, it’s black now. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen him with black hair, it’s was always different. Last time it was blonde, and when they first met it was pink, he even remembers him with bright yellow hair one point in time. Black hair was different… but he liked it. ( ~~He looks absolutely breathtaking with it.)~~

He sees Yugyeom reach over and pinches Felix’s nose and it makes him snort, which ended with both of them laughing. He didn’t like it. Jinyoung doesn’t know why he doesn’t but it’s annoying him in some way, so much so that he doesn’t even notice that he’s crinkling the page that he’s holding. When he does look at his book, he silently curses and tries to smooth out the paper, placing the bookmark and closing it entirely. He’ll read later.

He needs to figure out why this is bothering him so much.

It’s strange because the younger man laughs around and jokes with their friends all the time, especially with Bambam—who he’s noticed isn’t there either.

…that’s weird. They’re like conjoined twins, they’re always together. Jinyoung doesn’t even think there was a time they’ve ever seen them apart.

Maybe… Yugyeom’s out flirting with baristas? Is he going to go on a date? With Felix? No… maybe?

He doesn’t like the uncertainty. He kind of wishes he could listen to what they’re saying. Yugyeom seems to have finally ordered something and is paying Felix, who’s still laughing at something—what could be so funny?

Also, why isn’t Jimin around? Shouldn’t she be doing her managerial duties and make her baristas stop whatever this is?

He huffs.

There’s this feeling in his stomach, he doesn’t understand why this is happening. He takes out his phone and he thinks of messaging his friends about this because he doesn’t know why he’s acting like this.

**To:**

**Hey, I need someone to talk to about… stuff. Strange feelings I have about Yu**

He shakes his head and deletes the entire message.

**To:**

**Do you want to hang out later? I’ll buy dinner.**

He doesn’t know who he wants to send it to.

Jaebeom?

Mark?

Jackson?

Should he think to consider sending it to the younger ones? Maybe they’re more experienced in this… this thing. Youngjae’s pretty mature if you talk about serious topics with him and Bambam can be unexpectedly wise despite his tendency to just regurgitate memes and pop culture.

Jinyoung is scrolling through his contacts, flitting through every possible pro and con for each friend when he hears, “Hey, hyung!”

He jumps at the sound, immediately closing his phone and looking beside his table to see the reason of his strangeness smiling at him. He wants to cup his cheeks, wants to poke the tip of his nose, wants to embrace him in the soft pink sweater, wants to—he bites the inside of his cheek.

This has got to stop.

Jinyoung also smiles despite his tumultuous thoughts. “Hey, brat.”

The name immediately makes the younger frown and it makes him a feel a little better, _that’s what you get for flirting with Felix_ , he thinks.

Is he petty? Yes.

Does Yugyeom need to know why he’s being petty? Absolutely not.

The younger man whines, taking the seat across from Jinyoung, his frown overexaggerating and is forming into a pout.

Cute.

Wait. No.

“You’re always so mean, hyung. I was just greeting you,” he complains.

He shrugs. “I was enjoying a pretty quiet afternoon, reading my book while waiting for my coffee when an annoying dongsaeng showed up.”

“Bully,” he mutters, the pout still evident in his face.

Jinyoung grins wide. “Only for you,” teasing the younger man.

The younger man rolls his eyes. “Boy, I feel so special.”

In a state of weakness, he reaches over and cups Yugyeom’s left cheek, letting his thumb stroke below his eye. “It’s because you’re my favorite.”

Jinyoung finds that he’s not lying.

He’s not… lying. He wasn’t teasing at all. It was the truth, Yugyeom was his favorite.

He continues smiling as he retracts his hand and sits back down as if nothing happened—internally he’s freaking out but he knows he’s great at hiding his emotions so he looks as natural as ever. The younger is gawking at him with his cheeks turning red, understandably confused by what just happened but Jinyoung is determined to not make it awkward.

He takes the book next to him and starts fiddling with it just so his hands have something to do.

“Why are you even here? Don’t you have classes?” he settles on asking. “And why isn’t that snake with you?”

The question seems to have broken Yugyeom out of his daze and he looks around the café, probably to stare at Felix or something… his stomach does weird twists yet again.

“My professor’s out for a seminar,” he replies, “And Bammie ditched me to hang with his Thai friends.”

He snorts. “So, you went here to bother Jaebeom’s employees instead?”

The younger’s pout returns but it’s disingenuous and it morphs into a strange smile. Yugyeom scratches the back of his head, his cheeks turning pink.

“Actually, I was here to—”

He gets cut off by Hyunjin coming over to set their orders down the table. “Good afternoon Jinyoung-ssi!” he says enthusiastically, Jinyoung giving him a customary smile. The younger man turns to Yugyeom. “You too, Yugyeom-ssi,” he says less enthusiastically.

“Thanks for the drinks, Hyunjin-ah.”

The young boy immediately brightens at Jinyoung and nods his head. “I mean, it’s no problem—i-it’s my job, I gotta do good you know? Ah, anyway, enjoy your drinks. Bye!” He practically bolts off back to the counter and he thinks he can hear Felix laughing at him.

He takes a sip of the coffee, thankful that he has something to preoccupy him with. Yugyeom is also sipping at his drink, humming happily afterward… he’s pretty sure it’s chocolate shake since that’s the only drink he orders here.

Yugyeom’s has such childish tastes.

He’s such a child.

It’s cute.

He sighs.

“You didn’t tell me why you’re here hyung,” Yugyeom says, breaking the silence.

He raises an eyebrow. “You didn’t finish telling me your reason.”

That makes the blush return to his cheeks, his eyes downcast. “Oh… right.” is all he replies with.

He feels like he’s been thinking it a lot but he’s cute. There’s no other way to describe him, he’s just… cute. Damn him.

“Are you gonna tell me?” he asks.

Yugyeom nods. He’s fiddling with the straw of his drink and he’s still not looking at him. What’s he so shy for? Is he really gonna go out on a date? Is he waiting for Felix’s shift to end?

“I was… I was gonna talk to Jaebeom-hyung about something,” he finally tells Jinyoung.

“About what?”

Yugyeom shakes his head. “N-nothing important.”

He doesn’t like this. He doesn’t like Yugyeom keeping secrets from him. Jinyoung doesn’t like any of his friends keeping things from him but Yugyeom… he’s different. This feels so strange. He doesn’t like it.

“Yugyeom-ah,” he calls and the boy finally meets his eyes. “Friends don’t keep secrets.”

The younger man frowns. “You probably have secrets hyung.”

“No, I don’t.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“Well, I’m older. I have privileges, like knowing my dongsaeng’s secrets.” He huffs, making the younger man giggle.

Silence fell over them for a minute or so, he feels like maybe he shouldn’t have pried. Yugyeom stirs his drink with the straw, his eyebrows scrunched together like he’s not sure if he wants to tell him or not, debating on whether he wants to reveal whatever it is to Jinyoung.

“I… I wanted to get music advice… I-I’m writing a song,” he whispers so softly that Jinyoung almost didn’t hear it.

“You make music?” he asks, incredulous.

The younger man blushes yet again but nods anyway. “It’s nothing like Jaebeom-hyung or even Youngjae-hyung. I’m just—it’s just for my finals.”

“But you’re a dance major?”

“I… I know but I wanted to make a song that I could dance to, you know? Everything is made by me, everything IS me… or like, represents who I really am. I wanted…” he stops himself, sighing.

“Sorry hyung,” he continues, “It’s weird and stupid, forget I said anything.”

Jinyoung hums in reply, taking a sip of his coffee.

Yugyeom smiles but it looks forced and tired. Jinyoung knows that he didn’t want to say those things, it felt private… but he’s glad he did. It gives him an idea.

“I want to hear it.”

The younger man does a double take, almost spitting out his drink. “What?”

He shrugs. “It sounds cool, I want to hear it.”

“Hyung I—”

He places both palms on the table. “Tell you what? Let me listen to it and I’ll buy you dinner.”

“Jinyoungie-hyung,” the younger man is whining now and he thinks he’s about to agree.

“Any restaurant you want, we can even buy ice cream after.”

Yugyeom looks at him, regards him, probably trying to make out if this is some elaborate practical joke that will embarrass him forever. Jinyoung considers doing something along those lines but he’s honestly just curious.

“Why do you want to hear it?” he asks, wary of the older man.

Jinyoung bites his lip and he’s sure he hears Yugyeom’s sharp intake of breath, probably nervous of his answer. He thought of lying, thought of joking around and telling him it’s blackmail material but this sounds special to Yugyeom, so he settles for being honest.

“I’m curious,” he says, _about you_ he leaves out.

He sees the younger man prod at his drink with his straw a few times before nodding to himself.

“I’ll make you pay big time,” he warns but Jinyoung’s already grinning from ear to ear.

“I can handle it.”


	2. Not A Date But A Bribery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung and Yugyeom during and after their not-date.

Could this be considered a date?

No. Of course not.

It’s just a fancy Italian restaurant that looks like they mostly cater to couples but he thinks he sees some groups of friends… oh no, it’s just a double date situation.

He purses his lips. Well, it’s out of his hands. Yugyeom was the one who chose this location.

They parted ways after the café—he needed to get home to get his wallet ready, he knew the younger man would milk his wallet dry if he could, and Yugyeom said that he needed to change—and around 5pm he got a text from him sharing the location of the restaurant, also the time to meet there.

He immediately showered and changed after that, wearing his least formal formal clothes (a white button-up shirt and pants) because he didn’t know if the place had a dress code and drove to the restaurant.

Jinyoung was ten minutes early but that’s normal because he should be early for not-dates, especially since he’s the one paying for it.

Why was he doing this again?

Oh right, he wanted to listen to Yugyeom’s song.

He sighs, hoping that all the won he’s going to lose is worth it.

He talks to the restaurant’s host, _oh my god this restaurant has a host, this means it’s very expensive I’m screwed_ , and asks for a table for two.

The host leads him to a small table with two seats off in the corner of the restaurant. He looks around the area and sees that the other tables near them also only had two tables… and it was filled with couples, very in love couples.

This is utterly ridiculous.

He takes a seat, silently contemplating how to kill Yugyeom when the host asks, “Will your date be coming later tonight, sir?” and it brings a slight flush to his face.

He should correct him.

This isn’t a date, if anything, it’s a bribery.

He should say that he’s meeting with a friend.

Just two guy friends, eating at a fancy looking Italian restaurant together.

Just the two of them.

Alone.

He should correct him.

“Ah yes, he will,” he replies instead.

The host’s eyes widen slightly, probably surprised by the pronoun he used—he’s meeting a man, a child… a man-child—but he schools his expression fast enough and nods.

“Could I ask his name so that I may redirect him to your table?”

Jinyoung purses his lips. Well, it would be better than having the younger man wander around the restaurant looking for him.

“Yes, his name is Yugyeom.” thinking that a name wouldn’t be enough he starts to describe him. “Tall, black hair, brown eyes, pointed nose, has a mole below the right eye, cute mouth,” he suddenly stops, his cheeks turning pink a second time this evening.

He meets the host’s eyes and he sees him smile, seemingly amused, before bowing and walking back to his post.

Jinyoung sighs.

He said he had a cute mouth.

The word he used to describe Yugyeom’s mouth was cute.

He hates himself.

In the amount of time he waited for Yugyeom, he managed to get free bread rolls—eating three of them just so he had something to do, ordered a glass of wine—because that’s what a normal person does in fancy restaurants like this even though he’s not much of a wine person, scrolled through his Instagram feed—liking a picture Jaebeom posted that contained him and Jackson in his studio and asked a waiter what he would recommend in the menu.

Jinyoung peered at his watch, he wore a fancy silver watch for this not-date sue him, and noticed he’s been waiting for twenty minutes already. He looks at his phone and sees that Yugyeom hasn’t messaged him anything.

Should he ask? Would that be weird?

…is he getting stood up?

He tamps down that thought and sends a quick message to the younger man.

**To: Yugyeom**

**You’re ten minutes late, where are you?**

He glances around and he sees one of the waiters come over to his table.

“Um, sir? Would you like to order already?” he asks sheepishly, not subtly looking over the empty seat in front of him.

He sighs but nods anyway. He gets the seafood pasta and salad that had a name he didn’t even try to pronounce, it was the ones that were recommended by the other waiter he flagged not too long ago. The waiter nods and starts to walk away, but he returns not a moment after.

“W-would you like for me to refill your glass, sir?”

His eyes drift to the now empty wine glass.

He drove here. He shouldn’t get drunk.

He nods.

Thirty minutes in and he starts to think that Yugyeom isn’t going to show up. Jinyoung’s honestly angry but that emotion is overwhelmed by how miserable he feels.

For a not-date, Jinyoung feels like he’s getting stood up in one.

He takes a calming breath and schools his face into pure nonchalance. He shouldn’t look too dejected, Yugyeom’s the one who passed on free food. Jinyoung can enjoy this not-date all alone, thank you very much.

The salad comes as soon as he finishes his second glass of wine. He contemplated on getting more but he’s not a reckless driver so instead, he asks for water.

He’s picking through the lettuce and eating most of the tomatoes on the salad when he sees him.

Yugyeom runs up to his table, heaving his breath. He looks worn out, Jinyoung sees sweat run down his forehead and down to the side of his neck, but he’s still as handsome as ever.

Jinyoung spots the walnuts in the salad and he has this urge to throw them at the other man. He also kind of wants to jump in front of him and embrace him.

This is getting ridiculous.

He’s still wearing a sweater but this time it’s black and he looks to be wearing a button-down underneath as the collar is over the black sweater, black skinny—thankfully not ripped—jeans and leather boots that suspiciously look like Bambam’s.

He hears the younger man take a deep breath before bowing his head. “Hyung, I’m so sorry!” he yells so loud that heads start turning to their table.

Jinyoung shushes him and waves him over to take a seat, which thankfully the younger did without too much trouble.

“God, you didn’t have to yell,” Jinyoung grumbles, wanting to sound angrier that what he actually feels.

He wants to be angry, wants to be livid at the younger man for making him think that he wasn’t going to show but he looks so soft and innocent and a little pitiful with how his eyes are downcast, not even trying to make eye contact with the older man.

“S-sorry, hyung,” he repeats and the older man sighs.

He’s been doing that a lot around him.

“Why were you so late anyway?” he demands, and he sees Yugyeom flinch. For someone so unbelievably large, he’s so easily frightened. It’s sweet and slightly concerning.

Yugyeom bites his lower lip and Jinyoung doesn’t find that distracting at all.

“I-I was gonna get here in time, honest! But then, Bambam spilled yogurt on my only formal-looking shirt and shoes, so he made a big deal out of it and we had to go all the way to his apartment! Youngjae-hyung and Mark-hyung were laughing at us the whole time but he managed to find this black sweater, I borrowed this white button-up from Youngjae-hyung and he made me borrow his leather boots, he screeched when I said that I was just gonna wear converse or something. I wasn’t going to be that late but there weren’t any taxis anywhere so I had to bribe Mark-hyung to drive me all the way here.” Yugyeom still isn’t meeting his eyes and Jinyoung finds a sick kind of satisfaction at seeing him so submissive—something he will not acknowledge… ever.

He bites his own lower lip in thought.

“I have questions,” he says slowly. The younger man’s head jumps up and finally looks at him, nodding his head for the older man to continue.

“Bambam was with you?”

He hums. “He felt bad after he ditched me to meet Lisa-noona and his other Thai friends, he wanted to make it up to me for dinner. But then I told him I was meeting you… actually, he was the one who told me about this restaurant.”

That doesn’t surprise Jinyoung in the slightest, Yugyeom never registered to him as having any clue about such lavish areas. Bambam on the other hand, he could probably name all the most elite bars, restaurants, and clubs in the entirety of Seoul and have probably had at one point entered them.

The pasta is then served, the waiter immediately taking notice of the man in front of him.

“Oh,” he says not even trying to hide his surprise. “Good evening sir, would you like to order something?”

Yugyeom stares at the waiter and back to Jinyoung as if he’s asking for permission and honestly, it’s irritating how that small gesture made him feel guilty about acting like he’s angry in the first place.

He wasn’t angry, though he was extremely irritated.

Jinyoung thinks he could never be truly angry at Yugyeom.

He waves a hand to signify permission and Yugyeom looks through the menu with excited eyes. It strikes Jinyoung that this might his first time going to such a lavish restaurant. Yugyeom didn’t exactly come with a silver spoon in his mouth like Mark and Bambam, and he’s too young to have made a lot of money for himself like Jackson and Jaebeom.

He twirls noodles on his fork and pops it in his mouth. It’s really good, all those zeroes in its price are pretty worth it.

The waiter smiles at Yugyeom and him before nodding and walking away from their table.

He continues with his barrage of questions and learns a few things: Youngjae laughs loud enough to get them in trouble with neighbors in the same floor, Bambam almost cried because Yugyeom refused to change into slacks and Mark likes to get paid in cringey aegyo—at least when it comes to Yugyeom. Jinyoung doesn’t know what he feels about that last one.

"One thing I don't get," he says after taking a sip of water, "Is why you didn't text or call me that you were going to be late?"

The younger man flushes a second time that night. "I...uh... my phone broke."

"I-it broke? How?"

"I-I kinda threw it at Bambam when he spilled yogurt on my shirt. It missed and it hit the counter behind him pretty hard..." he mumbles.

Jinyoung snickers and Yugyeom halfheartedly glares at him.

"You're so stupid Gyeommie," he teases.

He pouts. "Shut up hyung."

Soon enough, Yugyeom’s order gets placed on the table—he ordered lasagna and a small Margherita pizza—and they both dig in.

A lull in falls in their conversation as they eat but Jinyoung was alright with the silence, it is companionable, not stifling.

…he was also immensely enjoying watching Yugyeom stuff his face and essentially groan at how good the food was. It wasn’t an exaggeration because the food was delicious. Although, Jinyoung hopes that he minimizes the moaning as it’s getting very distracting.

The younger man takes another bite of lasagna and a bit of the tomato sauce is left on his plump bottom lip. _I kind of want to lick that_ , he thinks as he pops a scallop in his mouth.

He’s just going to not acknowledge that along with his other thoughts along the same vein.

His eyes easily dart away as Yugyeom meet his gaze, hoping not for the first time that the boy is as unperceptive as he thinks he is.

“Hyung, the food is so good,” he tells him in a somewhat muffled way as his mouth is still chewing on pizza.

Jinyoung hums in acknowledgment, twirling another bit of pasta on his fork. Just as he’s about to lift it to his mouth, Yugyeom suddenly grabs for his hand direct the fork to his mouth, sliding the pasta and a piece of shrimp off the utensil. It shouldn’t be as mesmerizing as it was.

Jinyoung’s cheeks heat up as he breaks out of his stupor and notices Yugyeom grinning mischievously at him.

“Brat,” he grumbles, not genuine in the slightest, and Yugyeom’s grin gets wider.

He steals a bite of lasagna just to spite him.

They meet the cool night air after their bellies were filled and Jinyoung’s card gets a little emptier than before. He hears Yugyeom take a deep breath next to him as they walk together on the way to the parking lot.

“What are you sighing about?” the older man asks skeptically.

“Hmm?” he turns to the slightly shorter man and shakes his head. “Nothing, just full.”

Jinyoung hums and pats the younger’s back, another moment of weakness although no one can blame him this time. He and Yugyeom are barely inches apart and he’s already dealing with wanting to touch him even if there’s an entire table in front of them.

He’s about to round the corner where he remembered he parked when he feels Yugyeom grab his hand and tug him in the opposite direction.

“What?” is all he manages to say when the younger starts running, dragging him along with him.

Yugyeom crosses the street and Jinyoung knows he has to ask what’s going on or what he’s doing but he’s also a little awestruck that they’re holding hands.

Jinyoung and Yugyeom are quite literally holding hands. In public. In front of every deity, person and the cosmos. And apparently, Yugyeom is leading him somewhere.

He feels like he’s seen this particular moment in every cliché romance novel he’s ever read.

His cheeks start to turn pink, Jinyoung will just say it’s from exhaustion.

They stop at a small neon colored ice cream shop that was quite a few blocks away from the restaurant.

“W-why are we here?” he asks.

The younger man smiles. “You told me we could buy ice cream after. I just remembered this was around this area.” He looks a little breathless… in more ways than one.

“You’re really trying to get me broke, huh?”

The younger man giggles. “I did tell you I was gonna make you pay big time.”

Jinyoung only sees two other people in the shop, one nursing a coffee while on his phone and the other is a teenager with gigantic headphones, bobbing his head to the music and eating a banana split.

“Hyung,” he hears Yugyeom call and he looks at the other man who is now staring at all the ice cream flavors, eyes bright. “What flavor do you want?”

He doesn’t want to say it again… but it’s hard. He’s just so cute.

“Get me caramel,” he replies, squeezing his hand, immediately remembering that they’re still holding hands, and retracts his hand.

He thinks he sees the younger man frown although it might just be his own feelings projecting itself unto his face. He’ll ask Nate if that’s possible since he is a psychology major.

Yugyeom gets two scoops of milk chocolate and hazelnut chocolate (typical) and he gives Jinyoung his caramel ice cream.

They leave the shop and this time just walk back to the carpark in relative silence. Yugyeom tries to get a bite from his ice cream at one point but a quick jab in the ribs stops the younger man, pouting at his own cup.

When they get to his car—ice cream consumed and cups thrown in the garbage—and he drives off to the direction of Yugyeom’s apartment, he realizes that he wasn’t the one who paid for the ice cream.

Jinyoung was surprised when he entered the younger man’s apartment and it was quiet. He knew that he had two roommates, a girl whose name he keeps forgetting and a young man around his age named Jeongguk.

Yugyeom probably felt the question forming in the older man’s head as he responds, “Jeongguk is sleeping over at Taehyung’s and Yerin moved out about a week before finals.”

The younger man leads him to his bedroom, his brain short-circuiting as it keeps playing _what are you doing in Yugyeom’s bedroom what are you doing here of all places_ , and there he sees the laptop already turned on for some reason, and also a small keyboard and a guitar next to it.

“Didn’t know you played so many instruments,” he says nonchalantly, although on the inside he is pretty impressed.

He shrugs but Jinyoung can see a blush starting to form at his cheeks. “Ah, not really. The guitar is actually Ggukkie’s, I’m still not very good at it.”

Yugyeom tugs him by the shoulders and sits him down in front of the computer.

“So, uh…” the younger man behind him pauses for a minute and Jinyoung is worried that he’s suddenly frozen. “I’ve actually never let anyone hear this so… I’m sorry if it’s pretty bad?” he says with such certainty that he’s speaking the truth.

Jinyoung’s despises that self-deprecating tone he likes to use whenever he gets shy about presenting something he’s done.

He nods instead. “It’s alright, just play it. I want my money’s worth.”

He hears an unsure chuckle from behind him.

“Alright then.”

Yugyeom leans over and opens an application on his laptop, pressing a few buttons and opening files here and there. Jinyoung is inexplicably anxious about this whole ordeal. He’s never felt like this when he listens to Jaebeom’s compositions, so why…

The music starts to play, filtering through speakers that he didn’t notice were under the desk.

It was… not what he expected, although he’s not really sure what he expected hearing in the first place.

The song seemed dark, it almost felt like he was drowning in the ocean, no one seems to come and rescue him. Then he hears singing, it’s Yugyeom’s voice. It’s soft, as soft and sweet as his regular voice, but somehow more. He sings as if in a whisper in the first verse. Jinyoung didn’t catch some of the lyrics but it talked about how he’s confused that he’s here, confused that he’s ended up in this place and he blames it on a person because they lead him on, continued the farce that they saw him the way he did them.

Who is this person? What have they done to Yugyeom?

He kind of wants to meet them… and maybe hit them for hurting him like this. His fists unconsciously clench.

The song continues on with Yugyeom’s voice raising in an octave as if yelling in frustration to this person, that he’s willing to let them go even if he’ll be lonelier in the long run because he doesn’t want to get hurt.

That he wants to be happy… but he can’t because they’re still on his mind and they won’t leave, that he’s stupid for holding onto something that he could never get.

The song was only about a minute and thirty seconds but Jinyoung felt like he was in that chair for hours. The song was about to play again but Yugyeom was quick enough and paused it, the silence enveloping the room.

“Hyung..?” he calls out quietly and Jinyoung turns to look at him.

Yugyeom always looked so happy, so cheery, mischievous and active that Jinyoung didn’t think that there would be somberness in his soul. That the young man feels so defeated by his emotions that he couldn’t even move on from one person.

He wants to hug him. Show Yugyeom that he’s here, that Jinyoung won’t leave him like whoever it was that couldn’t accept Yugyeom. He would be here even if Yugyeom doesn’t feel the way he does, even if he has to drown in the ocean in his stead.

Jinyoung stands and embraces the younger man, ignoring the small squeak that left the taller’s lips.

“H-hyung?” he asks, clearly confused but Jinyoung quiets him, running his hand through the younger’s hair.

“Gyeom-ah,” he mutters next to the younger man’s ear, “I loved it. I loved your song so much. You’re always so amazing at everything you do.” _I’m here. I’m always here for you._

Yugyeom’s breath hitches and he feels his arms start to snake around his waist, the younger’s head tucking under his chin, folding himself so that he’d be wrapped by the older man.

“T-thank you hyung,” he replies, though the words are a little muffled by Jinyoung’s shirt.

He wants to ask, wants to know who this person was, wants to know why they would hurt someone as nice and playful and sweet and beautiful as Yugyeom.

…but he won’t. He’s learned enough already. Yugyeom will tell him if he wants.

They stay like that for what seemed like hours, until Yugyeom removes himself but he keeps his hands on Jinyoung’s waist, Jinyoung doesn’t mind it at all.

The younger man isn’t looking at him when he asks, “Was it worth your money?”

He snorts and he hears him chuckle as well. “Yeah, worth all the overpriced pasta and pizza.”

They both devolve into fits of laughter, holding onto each other as they keep chuckling at nothing in particular.

Somehow, they end up in the living room couch, sharing a blanket and watching some TV drama Yugyeom vouches is, “Super-duper really good, hyung! You’ve never seen anything like it!”

In the middle of the fourth episode, Yugyeom leans his head on Jinyoung’s shoulder and his arm has wrapped itself around the younger man’s back.

“Hey,” he whispers in case the younger man has fallen asleep.

He hears a small hum in acknowledgment.

“You’re okay, right?”

Yugyeom stiffens in his hold and Jinyoung was about to apologize, tell him that it wasn’t important or something to keep the calm that he just broke. The younger looks up to his face, his eyes seeming to search for something in Jinyoung before he turns back to the show.

He presses himself a little closer to Jinyoung and takes a deep breath. “I’m… I’m okay, pretty great actually.”

“That’s good,” he replies, breathing a little easier.

“I feel awesome because I got free food and I even got complimented by my favorite hyung,” he sing-songs, snuggling deeper in the older man’s side.

Jinyoung smacks the side of his arm, immediately hearing him whimper but still not leaving his side.

“You’re such a brat,” he says.

Yugyeom meets his eyes with a playful glint in his own. “You love me.”

He… he does. He guesses that would explain all of his behaviors from before, all his thoughts up until now. He’s in love with Yugyeom.

He was agonizing about it before, willing to ask advice from all their friends when all he needed was for the younger man himself to tell him.

 _I do, I really do love you_ , he wants to say.

“Shut up,” is what he says instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw, I was describing the song From Now by Yugyeom, though I used the 1:35 version from the concerts, not the full one... that is if any of you were wondering~


End file.
